


Not the life he planned

by wannabequeenbe



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Best Friends, CaptDad, Domestic Fluff, Family, Family Fluff, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Irondad, Male Friendship, no ships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2020-04-12 00:46:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19121146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wannabequeenbe/pseuds/wannabequeenbe
Summary: This was never the life he planned; it was better.





	1. Steve and Tony

"She's the light of his life and the reason he still gets up in the morning. When he found her, she was nothing but a baby in a tube, an innocent in a war. He never dreamed he'd find that she was his genetic daughter. Created by Hydra in an effort to have leverage over him. Now she's a precious seven-year-old that loves reading, hiking, and the beach with her make-shift family.

Sarah Rogers is everything right in the world, and Steve's never been so grateful for Tony's impulsive nature, yelling at him to "Grab her. We'll figure everything out once we get back. We're not leaving a kid to Hydra." They hadn't known she was a clone. They hadn't known she was Steve's. Tony Stark had only seen a baby who needed protecting and a family and stepped up like he always did.

This was never meant to be his life; Tony could admit that as he stood at the stove scrambling eggs and making shakes listening to the giggles of two best friends as they ran into the kitchen racing to get a seat at the bar. Morgan was everything he didn't know he had wanted in a daughter. Brilliant, challenging, eager, well, maybe he had known, after all, Pepper and he had been inspired to have a child after Peter entered their life.

Seven-year-old Morgan Stark is the only thing that keeps Tony going after he lost Pepper. Morgan needs him. She needs him to be her dad. To get up and show up. So he built his life around her. He gets up every morning and makes breakfast that includes a vegetable, two proteins, and a fruit. He carpools in the family-friendliest sports car possible. He attends recitals and PTA meetings and games. He shows up, just like Steve told him to the night they buried Pepper.

"Uncle Tony," Sarah's tone is the same one she has when she and Morgan have been plotting something. He's well aware that Sarah and Morgan are terrors on four legs. When you're raised by the Earth's Mightiest Heroes, you learn a thing or two, and both Sarah and Morgan are brilliant in their own ways.

""I'm going to stop you there, Rogers," he said holding up a hand, "Because if the words 'can we get a pony' come out of your mouth I'm going to turn into a pony. Really, Mor, you know Friday tells me anytime you've done extensive research and design. We're not putting a stable out by the lake," he said addressing his own daughter who he knows is the mastermind behind this.

"It solves the problem of watering that you pointed out," Morgan sighs. Morgan Stark has wanted a horse for two years now and has now convinced Sarah to aid her in her pony mission. Tony is confident that they have to guide the girls very carefully or they're going to become super-villains that will take over the world with minimal effort.

"Yes, but it blocks the running path, and you refuse to clean out the stables at the boarding house," Steve reminds Morgan as he walks in from his morning run. This was never the life Steve had planned for himself. Tag-teaming with Tony Stark to raise two daughters who often shared one brain.

Steve grins as he hears Morgan and Sarah sigh as they remind him, "We can pay someone do that."

"The answer is still no," Tony reaffirms as he puts breakfast in front of both of them and then moves to the kitchen sink to clean the pan and finish his shake.

Steve glances through his calendar and sighs, "You've got the carpool and classes tonight, right," Steve asks Tony one more time.

Wednesdays are usually the nights that Steve picks the girls up from school and takes Sarah to her dance class while Morgan is dropped off at piano lessons, but Thadeus Ross scheduled a meeting at 4 PM about a possible violation of the Accords again.

"Yeah, Pete and Bruce are going to cover SI this afternoon. You've got Ross today, right," Tony askes like he doesn't already know, and precisely what the meeting's going to be able. The mysterious rescue of Natasha Romanoff from Russian officials the same weekend that Tony Stark was checking on SI's Russian holdings.

"Yeah, and I'm sure that it'll be seven before I get out even though he assured me it would be no later than five," Steve says is a mocking tone.

"Ross is such a tool," Sarah mutters despite her father and his best friend's disbelieving scoldings of " Sarah Rogers," and "Hey; we don't talk like that here."

Both girls look at Steve and Tony as if they're idiots. "Dad, you called him a tool last night," Morgan reminded Tony. If you ask Tony, the number one thing Morgan Stark got from her mother is Pepper's ability to call him out on his bullshit.

Steve gives Tony a look that says, really? "In my defense, he had just spent an hour bugging me about Spiderman's identity," Tony defended

"What's his obsession with Pete, anyways," Steve askes. It was no secret that Theadus Ross wanted Spiderman; he wanted his identity, his powers, his loyalty, but the friendly neighborhood Spiderman refused to give him anything.

"He's young," Morgan pointed out.

"He's hot," Sarah agreed.

"He's got more Instagram followers than both of you," Morgan continued before Tony held up both of his hands reminding Morgan they were talking about their adoptive big brother who both of them just shrugged and said, "So," and "It's true."

Tony studied both of them before pointing at each of them, "Rogers, go make sure your dance clothes are packed. Stark, make sure you packed your piano book and lessons book. You've got five minutes before I walk out of this house with or without you. I've got a board meeting at 10, and Peter doesn't have voting rights on the board yet so I can't pawn it off on him." Both girls rolled their eyes and get off their stools and heading towards their respective rooms.

"We've saved the world how many times? You would think that that would get us out of raising ourselves," Tony muttered cleaning the plates up and grabbing both the girls' lunches and making his shake to-go.

"But we wouldn't have them any other way," Steve said with a grin at his best friend.

Tony smiled back at Steve and said, "No, we wouldn't," before he raised his voice, "Seriously, chop-chop. I'm walking out the door." Steve could hear two sets of feet and the cries of "Bye, Uncle Steve," and "Bye, Daddy," as the girls rushed out the door behind Tony.

Steve grinned as he sipped his coffee. No, this wasn't the life he ever dreamed for himself. But he wouldn't trade it for anything.


	2. Natasha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Her heart is no longer in her body.

Sarah Rogers doesn’t have a mom. She’s a test tube baby; a clone of Steve Roger, Captian American. Sarah’s Uncle Tony thinks she was created either to control her father or to kill him. “You never know with Hydra if they want to kill or keep your dad,” Uncle Tony had pointed out to her. 

Sarah’s best friend, Morgan Stark, doesn’t have a mom either. Morgan’s mom, Pepper, died when they were four years old. Uncle Tony can fix most things. If he can’t fix it, he’ll just buy you a new one. But he couldn’t fix Aunt Pepper, you can’t fix cancer Sarah now knows, and he won’t buy a new mom for Morgan. “It took me almost fifteen years to find that model,” he had explained to Sarah, “I can’t replace her.” Sarah hadn’t meant to make Uncle Tony sad, but she had wanted to understand why he couldn’t buy a mom for Morgan and Sarah to share again.

Peter shares his Aunt Mae with Sarah and Morgan. “She’s like my mom now,” he explained because while the girls still have their daddies, Peter lost both his mom and daddy. So they now share their daddies with Peter, and he shares his Aunt Mae. 

Aunt Mae is the best, and she hosts the best sleepovers when her Daddy and Uncle Tony have to go save the world. But it’s times like now that Sarah knows that Aunt Mae isn’t the same as having a mommy. 

Sarah looks around the dressing room with all the other girls in her ballet class and their mommies, putting makeup on them and helping them with their hair. Sarah hadn’t told Daddy and Uncle Tony about this part of the recital. Uncle Tony would’ve just hired a team to make Sarah into the perfect ballerina. That wasn’t what Sarah wanted. She wanted someone to come in and fuss over her. She wanted them to cautiously put makeup on her and remind her of her steps and tell her she’s going to be the prettiest one out there. Sarah looks at her hands and sighs. She wants a mommy.

But then the door opens, and she gets the next best thing. Aunt Nat had been in infirmary last time Sarah had seen her. Uncle Bruce wouldn’t let her leave after a two-week stay in Russia and to be honest, Sarah thought Uncle Bruce was right. Aunt Nat had looked so small and tired when Sarah and Morgan had been allowed to see her and fuss over her two days ago. Sarah’s eyes lit up as Aunt Nat pulls out her own makeup bag and hair ties. “You’re here,” Sarah says excitedly.

“Uncle Clint helped jailbreak me when we found out today was your recital. Turn,” Aunt Nat explained before ordering Sarah to turn around and making Sarah look in the mirror as Aunt Nat pulls Sarah’s hair out of the ponytail and start brushing it. Aunt Nat does all the things a mommy does. She puts Sarah’s hair up in the perfect ballerina bun. She puts the perfect amount of makeup on Sarah. “I don’t need your daddy having a heart attack when he realizes you’re growing up faster than he’s ready,” she teases, “He’s supposed to lead a mission on Sunday.” She goes over all the steps with Sarah reminding her when to smile and when to make her “ballerina-soft face.” She helps Sarah into her costume and checks her over to make sure she’s ready. “You are going to be the prettiest girl out there,” Aunt Nat says, kissing her cheek and sitting with Sarah until her teacher comes and says its time to line-up and go to the stage. 

Sarah Rogers doesn’t have a mommy, but she has an Aunt Nat, and that’s perfect for her.

Morgan Stark lost her mommy when her mommy got sick with cancer. That was the day, Morgan decided that she would find a cure to cancer, so no one else had to die from cancer. She spends a lot of time with Uncle Bruce, Peter, and her daddy in their workshops. Peter’s the best teacher of the three; he spends hours going over things Morgan doesn’t always understand right away. Daddy teaches her about nanobots and how SI, the company he owns, is researching using the technology to eat away and destroy cancer. Uncle Bruce goes over the human body with her and new research that has been recently published. She has the best teachers in the world for her goal, but that doesn’t help today, because she needs a mommy to wipe away tears when other girls say mean things to her.

Morgan is smart. So smart that she isn’t in the same grade as her best friend, Sarah Rogers. When they were in the same class, Morgan got into a lot of trouble because she would finish her assignment quickly and then distract other children. The school made her spend a day playing games and then talked to her daddy. They told him that Morgan was too smart for first grade. They told him she’s smart like Daddy. 

They moved Morgan from first grade to sixth grade for Math and Science and fifth grade for the “squishy” classes, as her daddy calls them. Morgan doesn’t tell her dad she wants to go back to her class where Sarah is, because she likes the work they do in class now. It’s fun. But she doesn’t like the students in her class. They call her things like baby, midget, and nerd. She can’t help that she’s smaller than them, they’re six years older then she is. 

Today had been especially brutal. Three girls in her Science class cornered her on the playground. They had pushed her around and called her names. They had said her mommy had left, not died, because she didn’t want a freak like Morgan for a daughter. After the bell had rung, Morgan had stayed curled up on the ground crying. She didn’t want to go back to school. Morgan wanted to go home. She wanted her mommy. 

Soft hands ran through Morgan’s dark curls as she realized someone had found her while she was crying on the ground. She opens her eyes, and her heart flies because Aunt Nat is bending down and picking her up and Morgan clings to her. “Friday told me,” Aunt Nat explains softly, and Morgan Stark is so grateful for her Daddy’s A.I who is always watching out for her and Sarah.

Aunt Nat walks into the school’s office, demanding to speak with the principal. She doesn’t raise her voice. Aunt Nat is scarier to people when she’s completely calm. The school official admits they were unaware that Morgan was missing or of the attack. They apologize for the “accident” as they called it. Aunt Nat informs them that Morgan will not be returning to the school. Morgan knows they’re not sorry to lose her as much as they are sad to lose her Daddy’s money. When Morgan and Sarah started here, the teachers had been able to give him a wish list of things the school had, and he had made it happen. That would not happen again. Morgan buries her face in Aunt Nat’s neck and mourns the realization that no one at her school liked her, except Sarah.

After the meeting, Aunt Nat takes Morgan to the bathroom. She sits her on the sink and wipes her face with a cold, wet rag. Aunt Nat tells Morgan how special Morgan is and how much her family loves her. “You’re the center of your dad’s word,” she promises, “And you are the best assistant that Uncle Bruce has. He won’t even let me in his lab. And Peter would have no one to cuddle with and watch Star Wars with if something happens to you. And Uncle Clint would always lose his bow if you didn’t find it every time your Daddy hid it. And Aunt Wanda and Uncle Vision would have no one to bake cookies with if you weren’t around to guide them. And there would be a Morgan size hole in my heart if anything happened to you. One that would never be filled because you know the only thing that could fill it,” Aunt Nat askes. “Me,” Morgan guesses. “Exactly, you.”

Morgan doesn’t have a mommy; her mommy lives with the angels. But Morgan Stark has an Aunt Nat, and she’s a really good Auntie. 

Natasha Romanoff knew her heart no longer belonged to herself the minute Tony Stark had laid Morgan Stark in her arms. She was in awe of the sweet baby. But then Tony and Pepper had asked her to be Morgan’s Godmother. Pepper had grasped Natasha’s hand and begged her, “Please, Nat. You are the only person I would trust if something happened to me. You can teach her to be brilliant and strong and kind and beautiful. You’re the only one who can help Steve pull Tony away from the edge. Please, Nat,” Pepper had begged, and Natasha had consented. 

Thursdays were her bonding night with the tiniest Stark. She would come into the nursery at 7 am, right after Pepper finished feeding her and pick the baby up. She’d keep her all day. It was the closest thing Natasha ever thought she would get to to be a mom and she loved every minute of it. She didn’t know her heart could get any fuller, but then Steve Rogers laid Sarah Rogers in her arms, and Natasha felt her heart grow to include this beautiful girl. 

Steve asked the same thing of Natasha that Pepper and Tony had. Be his daughter’s Godmother. Help raise her to be the best version of herself. Natasha didn’t hesitate this time when she said yes. This little girl needed her in a way Morgan didn’t. 

Her relationship with the girls is very different. Morgan Stark is brilliant. She picks up languages quickly and is always asking Natasha to teach her a new skill. Morgan can pick locks, speaks three other languages, and gets herself out of most bindings. Morgan grew up watching her mother get ready every day, and Natasha can see the subtle influences in Morgan’s style. Jeans and a science shirt under a sweater and ballet flats. Morgan makes sure to add a necklace and that her hair is always done in a style that keeps it out of her face for the times she works in the lab.

Sarah is a very physical child. Sarah prefers practicing her sparing, working out, or playing games with Natasha. She took up ballet after Natasha had told her about her own dancing experience. Sarah had adopted more Natasha’s personal style keeping clothes purposeful and straightforward. Tight fitting to allow movement but classic. When she was six, Sarah had asked for a leather jacket like Aunt Nat’s. Tony had choked on his coffee since he was the one who designed it for Nat and knew all it hid. Natasha had smiled and promised when Sarah turned 16 she could have Nat’s. She’d be ready for an upgrade then. 

Natasha Romanoff knew her heart no longer belong to herself because her body no longer housed her heart. It had split in two and ran around in the forms of two little girls with dark and light hair, and Natasha couldn’t imagine her life any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments. I haven't decided if I'm done with this or not. I've played with the idea of going through each Avenger, but I haven't made a decision. Feel free to voice your opinion.

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't published in over ten years, and never on here before. But, this scene wouldn't leave my head. I hope you enjoyed it. Please leave me any notes about formatting or grammar. I edit my writing, but I have problems catching all the mistakes.


End file.
